The task of breaking the news was expected to be completed by Thursday morning and acting departmental secretary David Gruen pleaded for “support, privacy and space” for those told they would lose their jobs.

“I would also like to remind you that the details of staff who have been declared excess will not be released and it will be the decision of affected individuals to disclose this information,” Mr Gruen wrote in a message to workers.

“In workplace conversations, please be mindful of colleagues who have been directly affected by the (involuntary redundancy) process, recognising that you may not know who has been identified as excess.

“Please continue to provide one another with support, privacy and space.”

The Community and Public Sector Union said the spill and fill was ugly and unnecessary.

“The spill and fill process has been incredibly ugly for staff and it was entirely unnecessary,” the union’s national secretary Nadine Flood said.

“Treasury is losing some really experienced staff that both government and the wider public service need.

“We agree with [outgoing Treasury secretary] Martin Parkinson when he says that cuts this deep will do real damage to that agency’s capacity.

“Treasury is doing important work on things like the NDIS, and cuts of this magnitude will have an impact on its ability to do that kind of work.”

2 comments

Wow a government who raves on about the unfairness of women wanting children in the workforce, the reason for their PPL, and look through the story, mothers on maternity leave having to reapply for their jobs, with no guarantee of keeping them.Another pack of bullshit from the Lying Nasty Party, and was there any doupt about which group they were targeting, when their own employees on pretty good incomes are not in those of calibre class, the Minister for Women has some explaining to do.

Commenter

Lost2

Date and time

August 14, 2014, 6:41AM

Goodbye to the Australian Liberal, to the National Party and to the Palmer United Party.

The good people of Australia voted this Abbott government in because they were promised increased job opportunities, the opening up of northern Australia as a "food bowl" region, stopping the 457 visa flood of workers taking Australians' jobs, improved services and roads, peaceful international trade relations, and no GST increase, no sackings and no touching the pensioners' payments and no touching the disabled Australians' payments.

But, what did the good people of Australia get in return for voting for a Tony Abbott government?

The good people of Australia are now treated like stray dogs, they are hated by Joe Hockey, Tony Abbott and Mathias Cormann, the disable and pensioners are losing out on payments, the disabled are made to find work, the age of retirement is increased to 70 years, Tony Abbott is going to sell URANIUM to VLADIMIR PUTIN, Tony Abbott is allowing an Indian mining company to take control of mining in Queensland, Tony Abbott plans to destroy the Great Barrier Reef, Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey plan to destroy Australians, Tony Abbott is now going to place Australian warships in the northern Asian waters just to annoy China but to crawl after the Americans.

Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey hate Australians and Australia. Abbott and Hockey's plans are to turn Australia into a third world mining colony so that they can reap the benefits and retire well off in Europe.